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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former President-General Nigerian Football and Other Sports Supporters Club, c, has admitted that he now watch Super Eagles in the ongoing African Nations Cup (AFCON) under severe tension.
Speaking in Abuja recently, Ladipo hinged his tension on the unimpressive performance the team has recorded in the tournament, stressing that none of the departments of team has really impressed him.
Ladipo argued that he cannot understand why Nigeria should parade the most prolific strikers in Africa but cannot score goals.
On why he is tensed watching the team, he said: “I was so tensed watching the Super Eagles last group game because if we don’t qualify to the next round it will be a big mess for our country. I was tensed because the team has not been impressive so far.
“Again, after the unimpressive outings in the two matches, I thought the technical crew would work on the ability of our strikers to score goals, but it did not happen. I was worried that the coaches could not do anything.”
“On how far the team can go, I want to say that any team can win in a football match. Don’t forget that any of participating team is capable of winning the tournament.
“However, it now depends on how the coach is able to organise his team, especially the defence because if the defence is porous, any team can mess it up. I believe we have what it takes to go far in the tournament. They should also work on the midfield which is the engine room of the team. If the midfield is not spraying all those passes, the strikers will not do anything,” he advised.
Speaking further he said: “We need to talk to our boys. They should be more aggressive on the opponent’s goal areas. They should know that you cannot win a match without scoring goals. They should be more determined, more focused and clinical in front of the opponent’s goal. Yes, we finished second in the group, but it is not a bad result.
“The technical team must work on the psyche of the boys for them to know that they need serious commitment to emerge victorious. Anything short of that we may not get the desired result. I am happy that we qualified for the knockout stage but my concern is the next round of the tournament,” he said.
On what he thinks of our strikers, President General replied: “I am actually worried over our attack. We have the best strikers in Africa, yet they have not been scoring goals for us. It is not really good for us that we have been wasting chances in front of goal.
That is not what football is all about. You can 80 per cent possession and another team has 20 per cent but scored goals, the team that scored goals is the better team,” he noted.
